


i will follow you to the end of this world

by brynhildvelvet



Series: akiren week 2019 [4]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, MMORPGs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-24 11:05:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18570154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brynhildvelvet/pseuds/brynhildvelvet
Summary: The Commander is the leader of the top guild in the mmorpg Ryuji, Ann, and Akira play, and Akira is determined to get to know the person behind the legend.akiren week day 5: at the top/at the bottom





	i will follow you to the end of this world

Akira sat on his desk chair with enough force to propel him to his desk, snatching his headset off the corner of his desk, still munching on the last of his curry.

“Ey, peeps I’m on.”

“Kira!”

“Finallyyyy. Come on, we’re by the cliffs working our way up. Skulldrag’s portal’s up in town.”

“Roger that, Panth.”

Once he loads in, Akira starts guiding his character through town, pulling up his equipment to do a quick check of his loadout before going into the portal in the town center.

“Are we grinding a bit before going for the necromancer crypts?”

“Hell yeah, we’re gonna get into the Commander’s guild before the end of this week no matter what!”

Cheers echo from Ann through the line.

Buffing up before jumping into the fray, Akira grins.

“Let’s get it.”

\---

When Akira, Ann, and Ryuji started playing this mmorpg, it started out innocently, as was usually the case. They play online games together to have fun, having gone to different universities after high school, they can’t always travel to see each other.

Ryuji played the most online games out of all of them, Akira usually preferring offline games, and Ann mobile ones, but when Ryuji brought up that he wanted to play this one with close friends, they agreed immediately. And unsurprisingly, the trio’s chemistry in real life translated to online. Missions are difficult but they’re always fun when they’re tackling them together.

Then there was the Commander.

The leader of the game’s top guild. Being in that guild is billed as a life-changing, game-changing experience, headed by an inspiring and brilliant leader; to be a member was the most esteemed goal in the game, surpassing even the goals the game’s creators set in the first place.

The point wasn’t to beat the game, the point was to be a member of that guild while beating the game.

So well-known was this ‘Commander’ that every season the guild held applications for open positions. Giving players ample chances to prove themselves and join. While the leader values the merit of all players, membership in the guild changes frequently save for a core group of dedicated members. Even then at any time there are around two hundred active members in the guild.With the amount of challenging quests the guild takes on, it’s not for everyone.

But, players swear by being in the Commander’s army at least one time if you want to get the full game’s experience. The Commander has become such a legend and an essential part of the game itself that she is basically part of the lore already.

A crusader. A rallying voice. A voice of reason. A uniter. She is said to be all of those things, and more. Able to make difficult decisions for the benefit of her troops, an intellectual compass for others to follow, she gave those under her command freedom, but also a voice to listen to.

To be under her rule was a privilege, and they are on a quest to the top.

\---

“What do you think she’s like?” Ann said, during another late night content climb. To even be considered a possible member of the Commander’s army, you have to clear the game story up to a certain point, after all.

“She’s a goddess to me, so whatever that’s like I guess.” Ryuji’s voice comes through over the sounds of battle.

“A goddess huh? Something beyond what anyone can expect, then.”

“That’s why she’s so cool. She bends to others will sometimes, but dodges their expectations at the same time. She has conviction.” Akira is drawn to her because of that. In real life, facing people is not easy, too many factors converging for him feel good about directing the flow of opinion. People’s aspirations and contrasts constantly diverging too much for him to grasp. But here in the limited, short-lived world of the game, the Commander holds everyone’s interests in her hand effortlessly.

“She probably gets lots of guys propositioning her. Being such a high-profile player.”

“Yeah. Man, when we get in, I’m gonna try to chat her up.”

“Ugh she’s probably tired of horny shits like you.”

“It’s all in fun, jus’ a little roleplayin’ come on. We put our personalities into our characters anyway.”

“True, but none of us are that cool in real life.”

“I don’t know, I think you guys are pretty cool myself.” Akira teases.

“We’re jus’ a buncha nerds, for real.”

“But in the game, we become strong warriors!” Ann laughs at the her quote. “Oh right, it’s easy to forget sometimes, but, we do hold the title for the first three-player group to do the winter dragon dungeon, we’re hardcore nerds at least.” Now that Ann mentions it, they have several records tied to their group.

“You guys gotta wingman me okay, I mean, we’re kinda iconic at this point.”

Ryuji does get a substantial number of viewers whenever he streams all three of them playing. People seem to like their banter and carefree attitude, and so much so their fans have an arsenal of running jokes they fill the chat with.

Their characters are fine-tuned champions, all of them putting in enormous amounts of time so that they have all bases covered, being at a disadvantage from having less people in their group than most. That means that even though Ann’s mage, PantherRose, is a powerful fire mage specializing in damage, Ann has also been branching her out into other protective spells that support the group, mainly through buffs and less through healing. Same goes for Ryuji’s tank/damage dealer and Akira’s assassin mage. It just means every fight they face they thread a finer line between success and failure than most, but they have been skilled enough to make it work for them. Resulting in them garnering admiration from the fandom.

“I’ve got a better idea. All of us propose instead! I mean, we’re hers when we get in, and we’re going in together.”

“Yeah,” Akira says, “All or nothing.”

\---

“Kneel.” One of the Commander’s elite knights, a swordsman named LobsterInk, commands. His startlingly deep voice works well for his role, probably why they chose him to assist in the ceremony.

The trio’s characters are the only ones being initiated into the guild this season. They didn’t need many new recruit it seems. Needless to say, they were practically shoo-ins for the guild after they applied, there was no denying that they were dedicated, serious players with a flair for fun. They were named the B0n3rsquad after all.

In the guild’s, simply called the Rogue, headquarters, it’s just the Commander, her aforementioned swordsman, and her strategist, tagname beyondRune, attending.

For a top guild, their homebase defies expectations.

The headquarters is a simplistic cathedral, with a tall glass window that allows daylight to shine down on the Commander as she stands before them. There isn’t many pictures of her available online. It’s not like she stands still for players to take screenshots of her often, usually leading her group into battle, on the move as she is.

Sitting before his computer, Akira sees the Commander before him now. Her character is a swordsman and gunner, as is well documented. The clothes she dons is a combination of a pirate’s and a samurai’s, with a cravat tucked into a collared shirt that folds over itself like a kimono. The tunic exposes her black pants clad legs with elegant, austere gauntlets for armor. She looks traditional and refined, her champion’s face serious and framed by strands of dark brown hair, the rest tucked up in a bun underneath a musketeer hat.

From the way she regards them, it’s hard to know whether one should expect harsh words or uplifting ones from her. Of course it’s not like the player can manually control the minute expressions of their champion on the screen, but conveniently the Commander stands with her hands behind her, and backlit by the sunlight the scene looks like their judgement before they enter the gates of heaven, or some version of it. With the simple environment that carries a sense of purpose. That they are advancing forward on a journey without over-the-top fanfare.

Over the call, she speaks.

“Welcome to the Rogues.” Her voice sounds solid and light, meticulous articulation compelling Akira to listen attentively.

“The three of you will be among our ranks starting today. We expect our players to conduct themselves with grace and respect when interacting with other guild members and the community.”

There are no sounds over the line except her voice.

“Do you understand?”

“Yes, Commander.” The three of them chorus in response.

“If you wish to join on raids and campaigns, the schedules are posted on the guild announcements and alerts will be sent out to everyone beforehand. Otherwise,” her tone lightens, and Akira can imagine whoever is on the other side to be smiling, “feel free to make friends among our guild, we are wide and welcome and while we are not one organism in any sense, we support each other in our best decisions. People are free to leave as they wish, when they feel they need to continue their journey elsewhere.”

“PanntherRose, Skulldragoon, The1stJoker, we welcome you to our guild.” LobsterInk, beyondRune, as well as the Commander all bend into a kneel with one knee on the ground. After a few seconds, the Commander gets up first and when prompted the rest of them rise as well.

“Any questions?”

“Yes!” Ryuji pipes up loud over the voice comms, breaking up the solemn atmosphere immediately. Akira snickers after muting himself. Ryuji always breaks the fourth wall somehow, especially when he gets too enthusiastic.

He's done it so often that at this point in his character’s lore whenever they actually role play while streaming, Skulldragoon likes eating cheese doodles, which he supposedly was inspired by the world’s worms to invent in the first place, prompting Ryuji to yell cheese doodle at every worm-like creature they encounter. Skulldragoon also likes watching shoujo anime. Akira suspects that's just a reference to that genre being Ryuji's guilty pleasure in real life. He still denies it, of course.

“The three of us would like to ask if you would consider our hands in marriage! We admire you greatly, Commander, y’know.” Ryuji more declares instead of asking.

“Oh, more suitors, I see.” Akira can’t tell whether she sounds surprised or not, or if she is even flustered by this.

He pipes up. “We give you our bodies and souls, Commander, if you would have us. We’re serious.” Akira coughs a bit at the end. “Yeah.”

“Hmm, I see.” Of course, they’re roleplaying at the expense of their characters, and she knows that.

“Well, to get know the B0n3rsquad better, why don’t you tell me about your favorite adventures together?” She dismisses her two guild members in the meantime.

“Oh!” Ryuji starts excitedly. “Wait, should we- how about that time we found that-”

“The hidden treasure? Hmm, it was pretty cool, but Skull, remember that time you kept singing the pineapple song but replaced it with pupplens instead and you got everybody to sing along? It was so stupidly catchy-- I hate you so much for it--”

“I want to tell her about when we fought the crystal monarch, we had some pretty dope clutches towards the end.” Akira turns his attention to her once again. “Well, Commander, which story do you want to hear?”

In the game, the Commander smiles, and she looked every bit like the kind, wise leader they heard of.

“All of them.” She said.

\---

“Is everyone ready? We are all in comms correct?” After roll call everyone falls silent again.

“Keep track of your group members, their statuses, and cool downs. For this boss we will need to trade aggro, as we've outlined in our battle plan. Team tanks will call out when they have aggro and when they will need to trade off. Healers save your cleanses for its roots during its third and fifth phases, remember.”

The Commander pauses.

“I trust you all with my life, do you trust each other, as well?”

“Yes, Commander!” The sixty something players chorus in return.

“This is when we will defeat the formidable Knight of Iryswerein. Go forth, my soldiers!”

\---

When they almost wiped, with only three teams left, and all of them, including the Commander, was fighting for their lives.

“In ten seconds, he will use a ground aoe, Ishtarek, use your team invincibility near the tree, everybody go towards him at that moment. We will survive!”

And just as she said, they did, managing to revive other fallen members during that phase.

Akira had never felt like this when gaming, how among more than fifty people, it felt like they were one mind and soul. The rhythms of battle always kept them on their toes, their belief in each other to keep fighting, and most of all, the Commander’s voice that joins them all together.

How her voice never wavered and she knew the battlefield like it was her sixth sense. The way she thought ahead while keeping all possibilities open. People described how it was like a board game in her head, like she was playing a game of shogi.

“Go forth, my brave knights! It is time to use our powerful move! Nine Formation Blinding Flame Scimitar Starfall. Decimate them!”

\---

“Akira.”

Said boy pauses while organizing his gear in his storage. Wondering if he heard right.

“Is that your name, 1stJoker?”

“Oh, indeed, Commander.” Akira answers. “How did, um, you find out?”

She hums.“Pannther let it slip the other day when she was talking about the three of you.”

In the space that she leaves when she pauses, Akira waits without interjection. During the past five months in the guild, he found that most people patiently waited for her to finish talking before expressing their own thoughts. There was a sort of unsaid consideration and respect that went into it. She possesses deliberateness to her speech that commanded all attention. It helped that she acted that way too, that she deserved the attention full stop. She was an intoxicating presence even when all any of them has ever known of her is her voice.

“I hope it's alright that I knew your name before you know of mine, it makes sense since we'll be meeting this Sunday.”

“Yes, you're right. Although nothing will stop us from calling you Commander in public at this point. It rolls off the tongue too easily.” Akira teases.

“I would expect nothing less from you, my faithful right-hand knight.”

“I don’t know how that happened, to be honest, am I really deserving of being called that?”

If he thought hard about it, it would make sense how they’ve gotten to this point. Their champions’ abilities mesh well for duos. The Commander being both a ranged and melee character with reasonable sustain and his own being a quick damage dealer with situational, clutch crowd control. Together it lends to a dynamic, fun playstyle, with the two of them leaping in and out of battle as needed and setting up combo chains.

“I’d rather give credit where it is due, dear Joker.” She says, in her gentle way reserved for their one-on-one calls.

“You have given me sound advice in regards to leading the guild, after all.” Even now they are playing together, albeit they’re just doing a run-of-the-mill mission just to see if they can beat it with just the two of them.

“If you would take it as a compliment, you are a reliable soundboard for when I cannot find the path that will lead to solving matters in my own mind.”

“I’ve got it easy.” Akira shakes his head with a wry smile. “I don’t have a couple hundred guild members and then ten of thousand players watching my every move. Expectations can be wild.”

“And yet.” She muses, “haven't you any of your own expectations for me? Being as close to me as you are.”

“I’d be a hypocrite if I expect you to be exactly what I want from your online persona. But,” He raises his eyebrows, lopsided smiling, “I wouldn’t mind you bossing me around in real life too. When you’re in the mood, of course.” Although she can’t see it, he waggles his eyebrows.

Her voices drifts away as she laughs, dainty and sharp, and he infers that she pulled away from her microphone, although her character shows no sign of her distraction, continuing to slice her way through enemies flawlessly.

“This is why we must meet in person, who knows what side of me you’ll bring out. It’s easy online, but I wonder,” Her voice drops then, taking on the rigid tone he associates with battle, and at that point, it’s almost like a pull in his gut, the instinct for him to obey her. “What influence I have on you in person.”

Akira shivers, but he doesn’t pause for long to prevent giving himself away.

“Well it’s only fair if you tell me your name now as well.” He says, eyes on the Commander as the battle ends. She sheathes her sword, her long brown hair flicking in a flourish as she turns to toward him.

With a smile he can hear, she says, “My real name is Hifumi.”


End file.
